Pruefer clarinet

I'm not sure how old this Pruefer was or what model it is.  It seems to me this is pre 50's instrument but maybe not pre WWII.  The body sections are wood but the bell and barrel are ebonite, and they all bear the Pruefer name.   My guess based is this was intended to be an intermediate instrument and after a repad it was a decent player.   The key work was perhaps a but heavy, maybe not clunky but not finished very elegantly.   It did have a nice sound!   Someone made a very sloppy re-solder to a trill key which I left as is, it was functional.   Pruefer made good stuff, I tend to like the older stuff a little better though.

Oliver Ditson curved soprano sax

This was a lovely little horn, a 1920's Buescher made "Oliver Ditson" curved soprano sax.
This horn needed everything but it was well worth it.  Turned out to be a nice player, which is not surprising given that Buescher didn't make stinkers.  I'm always knocked out by how cute these old curved soprano's are. 

Otto Link Master Link mouthpiece

Here's a 1930s Otto Link NY "Master Link" alto saxophone mouthpiece. 
This came in the case with a Selmer Mark VII I bought.   These are the earliest of Otto Link's mouthpieces and feature an open chamber design.  They sound pretty big and dark!  This one unfortunately had been badly refaced by someone, the table was so off that it was barely playable.  I sent it out to my friend Peter Deley in Portland who is a mouthpiece person, he was able to get the table and facing back to where it should be more or less (it was a hard job!).  In the end it was a lovely sounding mouthpiece that now has a new happy home in NY.

Conn 440N alto clarinet

Here's a really neat old alto clarinet by Conn.  This 440N dates to the 1930's and features a double register mechanism that is manually operated (two different thumb keys).  It takes some getting used to figuring out when to switch from one to the other but the two vent system makes huge difference in the tone and clarity of the clarion register.  This is the first alto I've played with the double vent and I love it.  This clarinet also had a crack running from the upper end of the top joint about 6 inches down.  These days one doesn't have resort to pins or bands to fix cracks as folks did in the past.  In this case very thin CA glue and grenadilla dust as filler sealed things up perfectly.  After finishing work was done the crack was almost invisible unless you looked close!
Also to note, Conn clarinets don't always have the best rep, but I've found that most of their clarinets pre WWII are pretty darn decent. 

Buescher C melody

This was one cool horn.  The serial number on this Buescher True Tone C melody puts it way at the end of the True Tone and C melody run...it must have been one of the last C's made in 1930! 
So what you get with such a late C mel is a more modern pinky table with rollers, aux Front F key, and a better intonated neck.
This one was a real beauty too, great silver plate, pretty clean and straight.  It had older pads with some life left so I did a basic servicing to get it playing.   It also had the original mouthpiece which does have a certain charm to it.  It's pretty subdued with that mouthpiece, you can see how the horn could be played in the parlor with the piano and not overpower anything.  But if you play this horn with a medium chamber tenor mouthpiece, wow, it REALLY opens up!   It doesn't sound like a tenor in this way, because it isn't, but honestly I think in most cases the right tenor mouthpiece really makes the difference with old C melodies.  

Penzel Mueller/Pruefer clarinet

So I have had Penzel Mueller clarinets and Pruefer clarinets through the shop but this was a first,  a clarinet with both makers names!  Apparently they were one company for a bit in the 1920's.   No surprise here that we have a top notch, hand made, high quality instrument.  Excellent grenadilla wood was used, well made key work,  sweet sounding instrument.  This is one of those clarinets I'd be happy to own myself,  lots of character!

Buescher Aristocrat tenor sax

Here's an old warhorse, a 70's Buescher Aristocrat tenor saxophone.   This horn was made way after Selmer bought out Buescher and was basically the same design that was used in the last Aristocrats (and also the same design used for the original Selmer Bundy horns).  Its a good, solid design.  This horn had been around the block and needed a full repad but when I was done I had a comfortable, sturdy, well playing tenor that would be perfect for a student or even as a pro backup.  They have a good sound for what they are, great values.  

La Bar Bass clarinet

I couldn't find any info on this French maker, certainly a stencil name.   It was in need of a full servicing but the pads were all still usable.   This one had an interesting register mechanism setup which was the single vent variety, but instead of venting on the body it vented on the neck.  I can't think of many other single vent bass clarinets that do this,  typically with a single vent its always vented on the body....its not until you reach the double vent instruments that you see a vent on the neck as well.
After much research the only instruments that seem similar are M. Lacroix, which look pretty darn similar.
Anyway back to this instrument.......after servicing it was a lovely player!  I liked this instrument so much that I kept it around for quite awhile before parting with it.  This happens sometimes!

Buescher Aristocrat Trombone

Here's a new one for me, a Buescher Aristocrat trombone.  I've had many trombones but mostly old Conn's, Kings, etc.  This instrument was Buescher's top of the line instrument in the 1930's.   They were never know for their trombones but this horn was top notch!  Very well built, great sound.  Note the angled bell braces!  Also a great engraving.  The slide was a dual bore, I can't remember exactly but something like .485"/.500",  it had a great sound.   I don't know if I'd say it was better than an old Conn but honestly it was just as good!  Hope to see one of these again someday.